Venetian blind



p 1951 J. HUNTER 2,569,171

VENETIAN BLIND Filed Dec. 26, 1944 IN VENTOR.

Patented Sept. 25, 1951 1 "Joseph L. Hunter, Riverside, Calif., assignor, by

mesne'assignments, to Hunter Douglas Corporation, Riverside, Calif., a corporation of Delaware - Application December 26, 1944, Serial No. 569,845

2 Claims. (o1. 160-173) My invention relates to Venetian blinds and "i has particular reference to a Venetian blind construction wherein the various parts of the blind may be readily cleaned Without the necessity of complete disassembly of. the blind, as is necessary at the present time.

Venetian blinds of present construction usually employ a plurality of slats either constructed of wood or of metal suspended upon two or more web-like ladders, through at least two of which extend cords required to raise and lower the blinds. The construction of the slats is such that openings are made in the slats through which the cords may extend, requiring that the cords be completely removed from the blinds whenever it is necessary to clean the blinds by reason of the fact that it is substantially im possible to clean or wipe the various slats while they are assembled in place-upon their ladders and cords.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a Venetian blind construction wherein each of the slats may be readily removed from the assembled blind construction without the necessity of disassembly of the cords and ladders.

Another object of my invention is to provide a Venetian blind slat which is supported in its web ladders by supporting structures engageable with the slats on opposite sides of the cords by which the blinds are raised and lowered.

Another object of my invention is to provide a Venetian blind construction wherein the ladders may be constructed of suitable webbing material, either cloth or plastic or plastic-impregnated cloth, and in which the cross tapes of the webbing ladders extend on both sides of the cords to lend support to the slats on opposite sides of the cords. V

Another object of my invention is to provide a Venetian blind construction wherein the Venetian blind slats are formed with notches extending from one edge of the blind slats as distinguished from elongated slots, the ends of which terminate within the edges of the slats.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from a study of the following specifications, read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective assembly view of a Venetian blind constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective. view of a portion of one of the Venetian blind slats and a portion of the web-like ladder employed in the practice of my invention; and i Fig. 3 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 1

steel or similar material.

showing the manner in which one of the slats may be readily removed from the assembled blind construction without the disassembly of the cords and web ladders employed therewith.

Referring to the drawings I have illustrated a Venetian blind construction in which a plurality of slats l are assembled in spaced relation to each other upon a web-like ladder indicated generally at 2. Each of the Venetian blind slats comprises a suitable strip of material of the desired length extending across av cross bar 3 constituting a portion of th weblike ladder construction 2. The ladder con-- struction is formed of a pair of vertically extending flexible strips 4 spaced from each other by the width of the Venetian blind slat I with which they are associated. The strips 4 are interconnected at intervals by means of cross tapes 3 upon which the slats are supported. The cords 5 by which the blinds are raised and lowered pass through suitable openings (not shown) in the center of the Gross tapes 3 of the ladder construction 2, the strips 4 and the cross tapes 3 bein preferably formed of some flexible material which is readily cleaned by merely wiping the same with a damp cloth; for example, a fabric which is impregnated and coated with a suitable plastic material which provides a surface coating which not only lends the desirable color to the Venetian blind but also provides the necessary substantially smooth surface from which dust, dirt or other accumulation may be readily wiped without the possibility of such dirt, dust or debris becoming imbedded in the webbing of which the ladder construction is formed.

The slats I are each formed of elongated strips of material which may be of wood, metal or other suitable material painted or coated with a suitable coating material which, like the web ladders, is substantially moisture-proof so that they may be cleaned merely by wiping dust or dirt which clings thereto and without danger of the dirt becoming imbedded inthe surface coating of the Venetian blind slats.

As a matter of illustration, I have shown the slats I as being formed of relatively thin, flexible but resilient metal such as hardened aluminum,

In conventional Venetian blinds, the usual cord openings are somewhat elongated or oval-shaped openings extending transversely of the Venetian blind slat and terminating within the external limits of the width of the slats. The type of slats illustrated herein; however, embodies a cord opening in the form of an elongated opening 6 which extends from one edge to the center of the slat, as indicated at I, said opening going beyond the center only sufliciently to accommodate the radius of the cord. The elongated openings are, in fact, a notch extending from one side edge of the slat so that when the blind slat is in place the notch provides the necessary opening for the relative rotational movement of the slat upon the webbing about the suspending cord 5.

By forming the openings 6 as notches extends! ing from on edge it will be apparent that the slats may be readily removed merely by twisting the slat until the opening 8 of the notch passes the suspending cord 5, after which'the entire slat may be bodily removed from the webbing and cords without interference with the other slats and without interference with the webbing and cords.

By reason of this construction it will b ap-- parent that the cross tapes 3 of the ladders may be of sufficient width to extend longitudinally of each of the slats on opposit sides of the notch 6, thus providing ample support upon both of the sides of the notch and supporting the slats on opposite sides of the notch.

When it is desired to remove the slats for cleaning, the slats are merely turned as indicated at 9 in Fig. l and then drawn longitudinally from the webbing as indicated at 10 in Fig. 3, each individual slat being thereby removable without re quiring the necessity of disassembly of the webbing and the supporting and manipulating cords. The slat once removed may be readily wiped with a damp cloth or with a cloth treated with suitable dust or dirt removing chemical which is designed not to attack the particular kind of coating material which is used as a surface coating for the slat material. The cleaned slat may be reinserted by tilting the same substantially to a vertical position and reinserting the same through the suspending webs so as to realign the notches with the respective cords with which they cooperate and then permitting the slat to be laid flat upon the cross tapes 3 of the webs.

By forming the notches extending from one edge of the slat to approximately the center of the slat, it will be apparent that the tilting operations will not be interfered with and that the individual slats may be closed one upon the other without this disengagement thereof from the sus-- pending cords 5. In fact, the slats may be closed against each other in a much tighter relation than is possible with the standard elongated openings in the slots through which the cords project since the edge portion of the slat will not be held away from the next adjacent slat by the interference of the cord with the piece of slat material at the end of the elongated opening of the standard or conventional slat. As viewed in Fig. 1, it will be apparent that were all the slats tilted as by the ordinary tilting mechanism, the amount of tilt will be such as to dispose each of the slats in a substantial-1y vertical position without interference by the cord 5.

Further, by the use of the notches the support beneath each of the individual slats on opposite sides of the cord and on opposite sides of the notch provide for a more adequate support than is now possible with the cross types of the present web ladders which extend only on one side of the cord opening in the individual slats and provide a much stronger structure than is possible with the present types of construction.

The use of a relatively wide cross tape 3 also has, the additional advantage that it Will not slip into the notch 6 during the normal operations of the blind, as might happen were the cross tape of narrow or conventional width employed.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to any of the details of construction shown and described herein, except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a Venetian blind structure, the combination with a plurality of slats having longitudinally spaced laterally extending slots therein opening to one edge thereof, tilting ladder supporting units for said slats laterally spaced to correspond to the spacing of the slots of the slats and comprising pairs of flexible suspending tapes, slat supporting cross straps extending between and secured at their ends to the tapes and having centrally positioned lift cord receiving openings therein, and lift cords arranged through the openings of the cross straps, the slats being removably supported by the straps with lift, cords within the slots of the slats and preventing longitudinal movement of the slats when so engaged, end portions of the cross straps constituting closures for the slots of the slats preventing disengagement of the slats from the cords throughout the operating tiltin movement of the supporting units while permitting individual manual manipulation of the slats to disengage them from or engage them with the cords and cross straps for assembly and disassembly with the ladder units.

2. In a Venetian blind structure, the combination with a plurality of slats having longitudinally spaced laterally extending slots therein opening to one edge thereof, tilting ladder supporting units for said slats laterally spaced to correspond to the spacing of the slots of the slats and comprising pairs of flexible suspending tapes, flexible slat supporting cross straps extendin between andsecured at their ends to the tapes, and lift cords associated with the cross straps and disposed between the tapes, the

' slats being removably supported by the straps with lift cords within the slots of the slats preventing longitudinal movement of the slats when so engaged, end portions of the cross straps con-.- stituting closures for the slots of the slats preventing disengagement of the slats from the cords and endw-ise shifting thereof throughout the operating tilting movement of the support ing units while permitting individual manual manipulation of the slats to disengage them from or engage them with the cords and cross straps for assembly and disassembly with th ladder units.

JOSEPH L. HUNTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Namev Date 472,601 C. A. Clark Apr. 12, 1892 2,052,379 Brent Aug. 25, 1936 2,061,548 Cameron Nov. 24, 1936 2,290,634 Clark July 21, 1942 2,292,338 Levy Aug. 4, 1942 FQREIGN PATENTS um r ount y a e. 

